NES Favorite NES/Famicom Game(s)?

[Sayo]

What are your favorite NES games?
I would personally go with Gimmick, I don't think anything comes close from a presentation,
mechanical and technical standpoint with some rare exceptions.

I'm also quite fond of MOTHER, mostly because of its stellar background music and unique story/presentation (even if MOTHER 2 is admittedly a "better" game) that has truly stood the test of time, I will admit it's a needlessly challenging game though, probably tougher than even Dragon Quest/Warrior 2.
There's some other truly great titles I would list as well, like Sunsoft's Batman, Adventure Island 2, Blaster Master, and so on.

Spoiler

First thread, please go easy on me

 

[Geo]

In no particular order, I personally love all the Rockman (Mega Man) games, DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, The Little Mermaid, Contra, Battletoads, Crystalis, Mother, Ninja Gaiden. These are just from the top of my head, there are definitely more things to love on Famicom.

In my childhood, Contra, DuckTales, and The Little Mermaid were my absolute favorites and also the games I played the most. Heck, I've completed The Little Mermaid no less than a hundred times, and it most likely was the first (or the second) ever video game I've managed to beat. Probably because it's quite easy, and I wasn't a very good player. I was, in fact, slightly ashamed of my love for this game, because it was considered weird for a boy to like "a girl's game". Stereotypes and all that.

(even if MOTHER 2 is admittedly a "better" game)

I deeply love all three games in the Mother series, but if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be the second one. It sure is prettier visually, but Mother 1's story is much better. Mother 2 is more focused on being quirky and funny, and it achieves that with flying colors, but Mother 1 hits my feelings way harder, and that's more valuable to me.

 

[Sayo]

In no particular order, I personally love all the Rockman (Mega Man) games, DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, The Little Mermaid, Contra, Battletoads, Crystalis, Mother, Ninja Gaiden. These are just from the top of my head, there are definitely more things to love on Famicom.

Oh I don't know how I forgot about Rockman on my list, that's certainly up there for me as well. I would say 2 is my favorite of the 6, but I've been gaining newfound appreciation for 3 in these past few years after I sat down to play it for longer.

In my childhood, Contra, DuckTales, and The Little Mermaid were my absolute favorites and also the games I played the most. Heck, I've completed The Little Mermaid no less than a hundred times, and it most likely was the first (or the second) ever video game I've managed to beat. Probably because it's quite easy, and I wasn't a very good player. I was, in fact, slightly ashamed of my love for this game, because it was considered weird for a boy to like "a girl's game". Stereotypes and all that.

I'm not too familiarized with The Little Mermaid but I did play the PAL release of The Lion King which is another Disney movie tie-in. That one (TLK) was, from my memory, essentially a port of the SNES one. I have a soft spot for that Lion King game.

I deeply love all three games in the Mother series, but if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be the second one. It sure is prettier visually, but Mother 1's story is much better. Mother 2 is more focused on being quirky and funny, and it achieves that with flying colors, but Mother 1 hits my feelings way harder, and that's more valuable to me.

I might be inclined to agree with you on the story of the first game, I find it to be a more emotional title than the second one even if both pulled at my heartstrings.

 

[Deleted-1]

My favorite NES game, which is also the first game I bought with my pocket money, is Isolated Warrior. It's one of the most impressive games on the NES and the most original shmup, but the difficulty is tough, especially from the 4th level onwards.
I also love Super Mario Bros 2, which remains my favorite of the franchise, Chip'n Dale, which was one of the first games I finished, as well as Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, which is adorable and easy, Crisis Force, Gun Nac, Probotector 1 & 2, New Ghostbusters 2, Blue Shadow, among others.

 

[Gorse]

Ready for a controversial one? Zelda II might just be my favourite game in the series! I love both of the original Zelda titles, but the world, music, and gameplay (especially once you get the downward thrust ability) of the second one make it an easy pick for my top NES game. The entire game has this creepy, tense, dead atmosphere, with no clear antagonist and a pretty dark dual storyline, and as you progress along, things just get creepier – you visit ghost towns, descend into age-old crumbling underground temples, and fight crazy, corrupted boss monsters, driven insane through centuries of isolation. For a Zelda game, it's really neat!

A few years ago, on Easter weekend, I beat this whole game without a guide, cheats, save states, or any other form of out-of-game assistance, and I felt really accomplished. By the time you beat Shadow Link (SORRY, SPOILERS!!!), it really is like you've completely mastered the game, which is no small feat! Secretly, I've always been kind of resentful that Nintendo never made any other Zelda games with this one's format, and I hold out hope for some kind of remake or spiritual successor.

 

[VampireLord1024]

Mine would be Super Mario Bros. 3. I didn't play many NES and haven't really ever played anime Famicom games.

 

[DJPlace]

really a tough call on my end. my would be a 3rd party NES game i could never beat. Tom And Jerry NES. i would love to beat but the last level before the final fight with tom can go screw it self.

 

[Ravl]

What are your favorite NES games?
I would personally go with Gimmick, I don't think anything comes close from a presentation,
mechanical and technical standpoint with some rare exceptions.

I'm also quite fond of MOTHER, mostly because of its stellar background music and unique story/presentation (even if MOTHER 2 is admittedly a "better" game) that has truly stood the test of time, I will admit it's a needlessly challenging game though, probably tougher than even Dragon Quest/Warrior 2.
There's some other truly great titles I would list as well, like Sunsoft's Batman, Adventure Island 2, Blaster Master, and so on.

Spoiler

First thread, please go easy on me

Mother 1 is a great game but opinions online differ on which version of the game is superior. I personally prefer the original unreleased NA translation by Phil Sandhop. Tomato's script is faithful to a fault: it's very dry and uninteresting.

My favourite NES title is the very first Zelda: it's a completely non-linear adventure in a huge, mysterious and hostile world. You can tackle the dungeons in any order you want, get the items in any order you want, no Zelda game has managed to truly recapture its spirit in over 30 years. it's truly a masterwork of the open-world genre. Do yourself a favor and play it with no guides, using just the game's manual.

 

[Sayo]

I'm going to mention some modern titles that I thought were quite fun now, because the NES is a platform that never stops getting love.

Kira Kira Star Night DX is absolutely wonderful as far as modern Famicom titles go, I would highly recommend this one. It's getting a physical Switch release soon but it can also be played using original hardware. I wouldn't recommend giving Limited Run Games money (since they also struck a licensing deal for this game) given their shady anti-consumer practices.

Gotta Protectors Amazon Running Diet is absolutely fantastic, it was developed by Yuzo Koshiro's own development studio and released completely free (from what I recall) and worth a shot.
The pixel art of this game is absolutely gorgeous and animated with lots of care and several frames of animation, far more than usual for a FC/NES title, reminiscent of the fluidity seen in Moon Crystal.

Alwa's Awakening is a fairly straight-forward Metroidvania on the NES, it's a faithful demake of a title released on PC and in many ways its better than the original. This really doesn't feel like a traditional NES title, it has a certain level of polish and depth often unseen in the platform. You can buy the ROM file from Steam and possibly elsewhere.

8-bit ADV Steins;Gate, is as its name implies, an 8 bit Steins;Gate spinoff title, it borrows heavily from 1980s console adventure titles, particularly those by Yuji Horii.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

I have a lot to say about one of the greatest consoles in the world, a tiny colorful machine made for simplistic single screen games and an as good as possible port of donkey kong that ended up creating game genres as we know them today

Akumajou Dracula: An amazing action game
One of the favorite games of my favorite director Hideki Kamiya
I always saw it as a precursor to devil may cry then it turns out kamiya always cites it as one of his faves

Your stiff movement and wind up weapon make the game all about timing and prioritizing enemies, it actually feels so fast and fluid once you master it has this neat feeling of actually going on a journey, I love how you can see your final destination, draculas castle, AND the final boss room in the distance all the way back in level 3, no other game does stuff like that

Moon Crystal: Fantastic Fantastic animations for the famicom, I wanna find a breakdown on how they did it because even the most advanced games never have these much frames
Nice music, feels like a somber adventure, super pretty story scenes
Its really unique cause its like east-meets-west mechanics wise. The cinematic platformer was a staple of western pc games with prince of persia, flashback and another world, and its being mixed with your typical jap famicom platformer but not in a half assed way, the makers knew what they were doing. You can get health upgrades and double jump but you're also very heavy and have to realistically climb on ledges and have a slow attack and stuff
Theres nothing else like it

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2 Fantastic story with some heavy twists for the time Amazing soundtrackSuper sprites especially the bosses, a big world to explore with bars to ask homos for hints, casinos, drug stores were you can get completely fucked up. Memorable side quests, an amazing fusion system where theres so many demons to create you need a guide its insane, way before pokemon too. TWO big words to explore once you reach hell
As relentless and merciless as it is I still havent forgotten finally reaching god backed up by lucifer and my carefully and painfully crafted party and the ending showing a new beginning for mankind. Amazing

No matter how much 3 added I'll never get over how stupendous the movement system is, the intertia, and how you can choose to play it slow and exploratory or blazing fast and both on a machine made for simple single screen games. There was a before smb and an after smb in the platforming genre

Rockman 4
Great controls, Rockman finally has his full moveset
None of the weapons feel pointless, I really like the paraoh shot and I dont get why nonone online talks about it; it's a big genkidama sphere that floats around your head catching anything that falls into it and then you can launch it in multiple directions; thats so cool!!
Gorgeous enviroments, two whole castles, not too easy like 5-6 not challenging like 1 but hard enough, no stupid grinding like in 2

Dragon Quest 3; THE rpg, as barebones as the enviroments are the guide and manual art really help with envisioning this world, each town has its own story which can get pretty dark like a town thats seemingly normal at night but as you sleep in the hotel all you see is destroyed buildings as skeletons as the main baddie previously visited this place The combat system is simple but its really fun! And you get a lot of variety with the different classes and the Reclassing, you can play it in a lof of different ways, you can go alone with 3 bunny girls that do little to no damage if you want to Another game that surprises you with TWO big words to exploreAnd while there isnt a lot of musical variety the tracks that are there are really nice

Kirby of the Stars: The Story of the Fountain of DreamsLike with Moon Crystal this hardly feels like its made for this harware. Each power up couldve been its own game, the Movement is fantastic kirby feels distinct from mario while having a great GREAT sense of weight, if you get good at the game you can be SO AGILE. The backrounds are impeccable and so is the music, noobs can just finish the game with the inhaling move like the first game while more skilled plsyers can have fun with the new abilitiesOn top of it theres all the great animation, the minigames just for fun and the distinct 3 antagonist Kirby's on a league of its own

Akumajou Densetsu: take everything from 1 and make it a gigantic adventure with a truckload of super detailed levels for a famicom cartridge, with interactive enviroments some of the best music on the famicom and 4 distinct playstyles, and it's not even a late era game! It's just a year after mario 3!

Hot damn

 

[Sayo]

I have a lot to say about one of the greatest consoles in the world, a tiny colorful machine made for simplistic single screen games and an as good as possible port of donkey kong that ended up creating game genres as we know them today


View attachment 1226

Akumajou Dracula: An amazing action game, the secondo best one only at thre launch of the disk systemOne of the favorite games of onr of my favorite directors Hideki KamiyaThe precursur to devil may cry

Your stiff movement and wind up weapon make the game all about timing and prioritizing enemies, it actually feels so fast and fluid oncre you master itIt has this neat feeling of actually going on a journey, I love how you can see your final destination, draculas castle, AND the final boss room in the distsnce all the way back in level 3, no other game does stuff like that


View attachment 1234

Moon Crystal: Fantastic Fantastic animations for the famicom, I wanna find a breakdown on how they did it because even the most advanced games never have these much frames
Nice music, feels like a somber adventure, super pretty story scenes
Its really unique cause its like east-meets-west mechanics wise. The cinematic platformer was a stable of western pc games with prince of persia, flashback and another world, and its being mixed with your typical jap famicom platformer but not in a half assed way, the makers knew what they were doing. You can get health upgrades and double jump but you're also very heavy and have to realistically climb on ledges and have a slow attack and stuff
Theres nothing else like it

View attachment 1227
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2Fantastic story with some heavy twists for the time Amazing soundtrackSuper sprites especially the bossesA big world to explore with bars to ask homos for hints, casinos, drug stores were you can get completely fucked upMemorable side questsAn amazing fusion system where theres so many demons to create you need a guide its insane, way before pokemon too TWO big words to explore once you reach hell As relentless and merciless as it I still havent forgotten finally reaching god backed up by licifer and my carefully and painfully crafted party and the ending showing a new beginning for mankind. Amazing


View attachment 1228
No matter how much 3 added I'll never get over how stupendous the movement system is, the intertia, and how you can choose to play it slow and exploratory or blazing fast and both on a machine made for simple single screen games. There was a before smb and an after smb in the platforming genre

View attachment 1229

Rockman 4
Great controls, Rockman finally has his full moveset
None of the weapons feel pointless, I really like the paraoh shot and I dont get why nonone online talks about it; it's a big genkidama sphere that floats around your head catching anything that falls into it and then you can launch it in multiple directions; thats so cool!!
Gorgeous enviroments, two whole castles, not too easy like 5-6 not challenging like 1 but hard enough, no stupid grinding like in 2

View attachment 1230

Dragon Quest 3; THE rpg, as barebones as the enviroments are the guide and manual art really help with envisioning this world, each town has its own story which can get pretty dark like a town thats seemingly normal at night but as you sleep in the hotel all you see is destroyed buildings as skeletons as the main baddie previously visited this place The combat system is simple but its really fun! And you get a lot of variety with the different classes and the Reclassing, you can play it in a lof of different ways, you can go alone with 3 bunny girls that do little to no damage if you want to Another game that surprises you with TWO big words to exploreAnd while there isnt a lot of musical variety the tracks that are there are really nice

View attachment 1231

Kirby of the Stars: The Story of the Fountain of DreamsLike with Moon Crystal this hardly feels like its made for this harware. Each power up couldve been its own game, the Movement is fantastic kirby feels distinct from mario while having a great GREAT sense of weight, if you get good at the game you can be SO AGILE. The backrounds are impeccable and so is the music, noobs can just finish the game with the inhaling move like the first game while more skilled plsyers can have fun with the new abilitiesOn top of it theres all the great animation, the minigames just for fun and the distinct 3 antagonist Kirby's on a league of its own

View attachment 1232

Akumajou Densetsu: take everything from 1 and make it a gigantic adventure with a truckload of super detailed levels for a famicom cartridge, with interactive enviroments some of the best music on the famicom and 4 distinct playstyles, and it's not even a late era game! It's just a year after mario 3!

Hot damn

>Megami Tensei 2
>Moon Crystal
You have some god tier taste right there, both of those are some of my favorite famicom titles

 

[It's Thinking 2]

Burai Fighter, Bionic Commando, Joust, Gauntlet (Tengen), Fantasy Zone (Tengen), Blaster Master, Guerilla War, trying to find favorites that haven't been said yet.

 

[Waffles]

It is certainly not a good game... but Frontline on the Famicom might have been the very first game I have ever played, and so it gets the honor.

 

[stealthRUSH]

As a child of the 80s my favorite NES games growing up were Mega Man 1-6, Blaster Master, Little Nemo, Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Tiny Toon Adventures, Bubble Bobble, Rockin' Kats, Little Ninja Brothers, Bucky O'Hare, Adventures of Lolo.

These days some of my favorites are Solomon's Key, Fire 'n Ice, Metal Storm, The Krion Conquest, and Life Force.

 

[Waffles]

It is certainly not a good game... but Frontline on the Famicom might have been the very first game I have ever played, and so it gets the honor.

But I'll add to my list by mentioning some games I *actually* enjoyed a lot:

The original Super Mario Bros (although, not the sequels -- not sure why).

Rad Racer.

Double Dragon I.

Baseball (1984).

Battle City.

Kirby's Adventure.

Startropics I.

Kung Fu.

Macross.

Nightshade.

Road Fighter (even though it is INCREDIBLY infuriating).

Street Fighter 2010.

Marble Madness.

Drac's Night Out.